Why is my internet so slow all of a sudden?

A sudden drop usually points to a wider outage, a line fault, or congestion at peak times. Check your provider’s status page first, then restart your router, then test on a wired connection to rule out Wi-Fi.

Why is my internet slow at night but fine in the day?

Evenings are peak time, when more people in your area are online at once. Some networks slow down under that load. If it’s only slow between roughly 7pm and 11pm, congestion is the likely cause.

Is it my Wi-Fi or my broadband that’s slow?

Plug a device into the router with an Ethernet cable and test the speed, then test the same device on Wi-Fi. If wired is fast but Wi-Fi is slow, the problem is your Wi-Fi, not the line.

Why is my internet so slow?

Most slow internet comes down to one of a few things: Wi-Fi rather than your actual line, other devices or apps hogging bandwidth, peak-time congestion in the evening, an old or badly-placed router, or a genuine line fault. Work through them from quickest to check to most involved — start by testing wired versus Wi-Fi.

Slow internet is frustrating, but the causes are usually a short list — and most are fixable in minutes. Work through them in order, from the quickest to check to the most involved.

1. Check whether it’s Wi-Fi or your line

This is the single most useful test. Plug a laptop or computer straight into your router with an Ethernet cable and run our broadband speed test. Then run it again over Wi-Fi on the same device.

Wired is fast, Wi-Fi is slow → it’s a Wi-Fi problem. See better Wi-Fi in every room.
Both are slow → the issue is your line, router, or provider — keep going.

2. See if something is hogging your bandwidth

A single big download, a console update, cloud backups or someone streaming in 4K can eat most of your connection.

Pause downloads and streaming, then test again.
Check for devices updating in the background (games consoles are a common culprit).

3. Rule out a peak-time slowdown

If it’s only slow in the evening, that’s often congestion — lots of people in your area online at once. There’s little you can do about the network itself, but it’s worth knowing it’s not a fault.

4. Restart your router properly

A clean power-cycle fixes a surprising share of problems. Do it properly: how to restart your router — off at the socket, wait 30 seconds, back on, and leave it to resync.

5. Check for an outage or a line fault

If speeds are still poor, check your provider’s service status page to see whether there’s a known problem in your area. If not, and your speed is well below what you’d expect, it may be a genuine fault worth reporting — keep dated screenshots of your speed-test results as evidence.

How slow is “too slow”?

Use the speed test: if you’re consistently getting well under half of what you’d expect for your connection or plan, something is likely wrong. If you’re not sure what you should be getting, see what speed should I get?.

→ Use the fix slow internet diagnostic

Why is my internet so slow — and how to fix it